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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Genesis 49 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/49.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" 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href="../genesis/48.htm" title="Genesis 48">◄</a> Genesis 49 <a href="../genesis/50.htm" title="Genesis 50">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/genesis/49.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Come and listen, you sons of Jacob;</p><p class="line2">listen to Israel, your father.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength,</p><p class="line2">the child of my vigorous youth.</p><p class="line2">You are first in rank and first in power.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>But you are as unruly as a flood,</p><p class="line2">and you will be first no longer.</p><p class="line1">For you went to bed with my wife;</p><p class="line2">you defiled my marriage couch.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind;</p><p class="line2">their weapons are instruments of violence.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>May I never join in their meetings;</p><p class="line2">may I never be a party to their plans.</p><p class="line1">For in their anger they murdered men,</p><p class="line2">and they crippled oxen just for sport.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>A curse on their anger, for it is fierce;</p><p class="line2">a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel.</p><p class="line1">I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob;</p><p class="line2">I will disperse them throughout Israel.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“Judah, your brothers will praise you.</p><p class="line2">You will grasp your enemies by the neck.</p><p class="line2">All your relatives will bow before you.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Judah, my son, is a young lion</p><p class="line2">that has finished eating its prey.</p><p class="line1">Like a lion he crouches and lies down;</p><p class="line2">like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>The scepter will not depart from Judah,</p><p class="line2">nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a></p><p class="line1">until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a></p><p class="line2">the one whom all nations will honor.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>He ties his foal to a grapevine,</p><p class="line2">the colt of his donkey to a choice vine.</p><p class="line1">He washes his clothes in wine,</p><p class="line2">his robes in the blood of grapes.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>His eyes are darker than wine,</p><p class="line2">and his teeth are whiter than milk.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>“Zebulun will settle by the seashore</p><p class="line2">and will be a harbor for ships;</p><p class="line2">his borders will extend to Sidon.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>“Issachar is a sturdy donkey,</p><p class="line2">resting between two saddlepacks.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>When he sees how good the countryside is</p><p class="line2">and how pleasant the land,</p><p class="line1">he will bend his shoulder to the load</p><p class="line2">and submit himself to hard labor.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Dan will govern his people,</p><p class="line2">like any other tribe in Israel.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Dan will be a snake beside the road,</p><p class="line2">a poisonous viper along the path</p><p class="line1">that bites the horse’s hooves</p><p class="line2">so its rider is thrown off.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“Gad will be attacked by marauding bands,</p><p class="line2">but he will attack them when they retreat.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Asher will dine on rich foods</p><p class="line2">and produce food fit for kings.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>“Naphtali is a doe set free</p><p class="line2">that bears beautiful fawns.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>“Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey,</p><p class="line2">the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—</p><p class="line2">one of the wild donkeys on the ridge.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a></p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Archers attacked him savagely;</p><p class="line2">they shot at him and harassed him.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>But his bow remained taut,</p><p class="line2">and his arms were strengthened</p><p class="line1">by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,</p><p class="line2">by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>May the God of your father help you;</p><p class="line2">may the Almighty bless you</p><p class="line1">with the blessings of the heavens above,</p><p class="line2">and blessings of the watery depths below,</p><p class="line2">and blessings of the breasts and womb.</p><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>May my fatherly blessings on you</p><p class="line2">surpass the blessings of my ancestors,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a></p><p class="line2">reaching to the heights of the eternal hills.</p><p class="line1">May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,</p><p class="line2">who is a prince among his brothers.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,</p><p class="line2">devouring his enemies in the morning</p><p class="line2">and dividing his plunder in the evening.”</p><p class="b"/><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.</p><p class="hdg">Jacob’s Death and Burial</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/49-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">49:10a </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">from between his feet.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">49:10b </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">until tribute is brought to him and the peoples obey;</span><span class="ft"> traditionally rendered </span><span class="it">until Shiloh comes.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">49:14 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">sheepfolds,</span><span class="ft"> or </span><span class="it">hearths.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">49:22 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Joseph is a fruitful tree, / a fruitful tree beside a spring. / His branches reach over the wall.</span><span class="ft"> The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">49:26 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">of the ancient mountains.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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